Sanding device.



PATENTED DEG- l5, 1903.-

L. A. GARDN EB. SANDING DEVICE APPLIGATION FILED JAN. 5, 1903.

H0 MODEL.

' 1 n-venior. [GUM/l Gav-dwarf Attorney WitnesSeS Q CZ. 753? a PatentedDecember 15, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE. 1

LOUIS A. GARDNER, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

SANDING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 746,691, dated December15, 1903.

Application filezl January 5, 1903. Serial No. 137,763. No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LLOUIS A. GARDNER, a resident of Providence, in thecounty of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Sanding Devices; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to devices for sanding railroad-tracks, and hasfor its object to produce a simple and efiective device that may bereadily attached to a street-car and easily operated by the foot of themotorman to deposit sand on the car-tracks in front of the wheels. It isfully explained in this specification and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

Figure 1 illustrates a sectional side elevation of the device asattached to the platform of a car, said platform being also in section,

- a portion of the dasher showing in the background. Fig. 2 is aperspective view of the movable shut-off box.

In the construction, A is the hopper or receptacle which receives andholds the sand. It may be supported by a casing b from the fioor of thecar and has a tapering bottom B, the lower end of which converges into atube 0 and leads down into the movable or sliding shut-01f box D. Thisshut-off box is located within casing band consists of a substan: tiallysquare box formed with shallow sides and having a delivery-hole Ethrough its bottom plate. Projecting up from its bottom plate and nearits center is a rod F. On one end of this box D are cars 61 61, intowhich is pivoted one end of the connecting-rod G, the other end of saidrod being pivoted on the upper end of the arm h of the bell-crank H.This bell-crank is pivotedly hung in the lower end of the bracket I,which is attached to the underneath side of the platform. J is thefoot-plunger, the head of which projects up through the car-floor, withits lower end resting on the end of the arm 2' of the bell-crank H andis located in convenient reach of the motormans foot.

The tube or conducting sand-spout K may be attached at its upper end tothe under side of the car-platform R and leads down directly overthe'rail S. The lower end or mouth of this conductor is flaring orbell-shaped for the purpose of preventing the dirt and mud fromcollecting on the inside of the tube and stopping it up.

The operation of my device is as follows: The sand box or hopper A maybe filled by buckets or any convenient way. The bottom being tapering,the sand is at once conducted down through the tube G into the slidingbox D, which may rest on the floor of the car until said box ispartially filled, forming a natural stop or shut-0d for the rest of thesand in the hopper. When it is desired by the motorman to deposit somesand on the rail in front of the wheel, he merely presses the head ofthe plunger J with his foot, which draws box D endwise'by means of thebell-crank H and connection G until the hole E registers with that inthe tube K and the sand fr'eely flows to the track S below. Whensufficient sand has been deposited, the plunger J is released, and thesliding box is at once returned and held in its closed or normalposition by the spring 0, which is attached to the opposite end of thebox. The rod F, which projects from the bottom plate of the sliding boxup into the tube C, moves with said box and is for the purpose ofstirring up the sand in said tube, causing it to flow more freely.

My device may be placed in any convenient part of the carou theplatforms or under the seats and operated equally well by the motormanthrough the connection above described.

By using the sliding box for the shut-0E it is found that a freerdischarge is obtained and an easier and more certain shut-0E assured,and it will be particularly observed that by placing the sliding boxwithin the supporting-casing said box is protected from injury, and thesides of the casing serve as stops to limit the movement thereof.

This device is extremely simple in construction and may be easilyattached to and operated on any car.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A sanding device comprising a casing forming a chamber the bottom ofwhich is provided with an outletopening, a hopper resting on said casingand serving to close said chamber, said hopper having a portiondepending into said chamber, a cnt-ofi valve for said hopper resting onthe bottom of said chamber and having an opening arranged to registerwith said outlet-opening, and means for reciprocating said cut-offvalve, as set forth.

2. A sanding device comprising a casing, a hopper resting on said casingand having a portion depending into the latter, a cut-off valve for saidhopper located in said casing, and means for reciprocating said cut-offvalve, the movement of the latter being limited by the walls of saidcasing, as set forth.

3. A sanding device comprising a casing, a hopper serving as a cover forsaid casing and having a portion depending into the latter, a cut-offvalve located in said casing, a space being formed between the same andthe depending portion of said hopper, and an agitator carried by saidvalve and projecting into the depending portion of said hopper, thewalls of said casing serving to limit the movement of said valve, as setforth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 3d day ofJanl1ary,A. D. 1903.

LOUIS A. GARDNER. In presence of HOWARD E. BARLoW, CHAS. P. DAY.

